32 years old high cholesterol High TSH advice

Soren

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My cousin who has been overweight for a while but recently has lost a good amount of weight cycling went to the doctor to have a few tests came back with the following;

Total Cholesterol 245
Triglycerides 160
HDL 34
LDL 181

TSH: 6.89 uIU/mL
T4 Free: 1.19 ng/dl

Doctor has tried to prescribe him statins and Levothyroxine (T4). He called me straight away because he knows my opinion on statins and that at 32 to be prescribed this is ridiculous.

I recommended he get on the following;

Liver for the vitamin A and the copper to help with T4 conversion
Vitamin K2
B vitamin complex
Magnesium

I also recommended he get a thyroid product with a combination of t3 and t4 instead of just t4 but first I want to try the above supplements to see if his situation improves. Based on his labs it seems to me that he may not be converting t4 to t3 and that is why he has such high cholesterol. He also has pretty low vitamin D levels but given that too much vitamin D may deplete vitamin A according to some I am hesitant to recommend he supplement with vitamin D.

Does anyone have any other recommendations many thanks.
 

lampofred

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If both cholesterol and TSH are high it would make the most sense in my opinion to just start off with a thyroid supplement, along with avoiding PUFA and keeping a good calcium to phosphate ratio. That might fix everything on its own. If vitamin D is already low, then the enormous vitamin A content of liver might imbalance vitamin D even more, and it's risky to rely on isolated supplements (K2, B vitamins, mag) in the long-run.

Plus that TSH seems really high, so it might be that the gland isn't producing enough thyroxin to start with, not just that the thyroxin isn't converting to T3.
 
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Soren

Soren

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If both cholesterol and TSH are high it would make the most sense in my opinion to just start off with a thyroid supplement, along with avoiding PUFA and keeping a good calcium to phosphate ratio. That might fix everything on its own. If vitamin D is already low, then the enormous vitamin A content of liver might imbalance vitamin D even more, and it's risky to rely on isolated supplements (K2, B vitamins, mag) in the long-run.

Plus that TSH seems really high, so it might be that the gland isn't producing enough thyroxin to start with, not just that the thyroxin isn't converting to T3.

Thanks for this lampofred. His T4 levels seem to be in the normal range would this not suggest that he has a conversion issue?

I would imagine that his cortisol levels are also quite high.
 
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Kaur Singh

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mostlylurking

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He also has pretty low vitamin D levels but given that too much vitamin D may deplete vitamin A according to some I am hesitant to recommend he supplement with vitamin D.
I think it would be helpful to supplement vitamin D3 along with vitamin A. 10,000iu as liquid with a dropper under the tongue plus some vitamin A in oil taken transdermally. About 20% of the A is absorbed through the skin.

The TSH is alarmingly high. TSH is inflammatory.
 
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Soren

Soren

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I think it would be helpful to supplement vitamin D3 along with vitamin A. 10,000iu as liquid with a dropper under the tongue plus some vitamin A in oil taken transdermally. About 20% of the A is absorbed through the skin.

The TSH is alarmingly high. TSH is inflammatory.
Thanks mostlylurking yeah TSH is very high sign of a lot of stress
 
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Soren

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Thanks for this I'd heard of this podcast episods of win at life but hadn't listened to it yet. Ray basically believes that supplementing vitamin D will not throw out of whack other vitamins/minerals correct?
 

lampofred

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Thanks for this lampofred. His T4 levels seem to be in the normal range would this not suggest that he has a conversion issue?

I would imagine that his cortisol levels are also quite high.

True but also Peat has said that blood tests are hard to interpret. Calcium for example will almost always appear in range on a blood test (because PTH is pulling it from the bones) even if someone is severely deficient in calcium. So the way to know if someone is deficient in calcium is to look at PTH level, not calcium level. It might be similar for thyroxin, it might appear normal on a blood test even if there is a deficiency, and the way to know if there is a deficiency would be to look at TSH rather than thyroxin.

But I think the high cholesterol implies there a conversion issue as well, like you said. It could be that both the absolute thyroxin level is low and the conversion of thyroxin to T3 is low.
 

mostlylurking

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Thanks mostlylurking yeah TSH is very high sign of a lot of stress
a few ideas:

How's his diet? Is he consuming PUFA? Is he consuming goitrogenic vegetables? Is he eating high beta carotene vegetables?

I've learned from personal experience that a thiamine deficiency can affect thyroid function and the ability to utilize thyroid hormone. Since a year ago, my endocrinologist has lowered my dose of natural desiccated thyroid twice because my T3 became alarmingly high during the time that my thiamine function was blocked. So now I am able to function very well (and feel good) on a lower dose of thyroid med (was 180mg a year ago, now 135mg) and a high dose of thiamine hcl. Both thyroid (T3) and thiamine affect oxidative metabolism.
 
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Soren

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a few ideas:

How's his diet? Is he consuming PUFA? Is he consuming goitrogenic vegetables? Is he eating high beta carotene vegetables?

I've learned from personal experience that a thiamine deficiency can affect thyroid function and the ability to utilize thyroid hormone. Since a year ago, my endocrinologist has lowered my dose of natural desiccated thyroid twice because my T3 became alarmingly high during the time that my thiamine function was blocked. So now I am able to function very well (and feel good) on a lower dose of thyroid med (was 180mg a year ago, now 135mg) and a high dose of thiamine hcl. Both thyroid (T3) and thiamine affect oxidative metabolism.

Diet was def not the best. Good amount of PUFA I'd wager. I'd be surprised if he was eating a lot of vegetables.

i've got him on a b vitamin complex which includes thiamine. life Blud is the brand very peat like.

Does your thyroid supplementation help you maintain weight?
 

mostlylurking

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Diet was def not the best. Good amount of PUFA I'd wager. I'd be surprised if he was eating a lot of vegetables.

i've got him on a b vitamin complex which includes thiamine. life Blud is the brand very peat like.

Does your thyroid supplementation help you maintain weight?
My problem is needing to lose weight. It's taking forever. But I feel pretty good and have enough energy to exercise.
 

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